Africa is growing and growing fast too and everyone knows that. Not only in population, which by the way has already hit 1 Million and beyond… and counting. Do you know what this means? It means a market with a billion buyers… now, if only a genius CEO could come up with a product that everyone in Africa needs…
This is Africa. It is a continent not a country
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa
Africa is not poor! No it isn’t. However, it has some of the poorest people in the world, but this comes mainly from bad leadership and poor (if any) distribution of resources…sees? There, for the first time, we refuse to blame anyone for our problems, except ourselves. But that is neither here nor there, because Africa is growing fast and every marketer has their eyes on the continent. With improving political stability, many dollar millionaires and billionaires are emerging in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Egypt and others.
It is easy to predict… big economy means bigger buying power, means also that more people can afford to drive and well… with the sheikhs having opened their oil pumps to full throttle, driving oil prices to a plummet of $50 per barrel and saying that most likely the prices will never go back to $100, everyone suddenly wants to own a car.
Nigeria
Recently, Nigeria overtook South Africa to become the biggest economy in Africa with a GDP of $521.8 billion. Not only is the economy of Nigeria doing well for now, but economists project that in the next couple of years, the growth will hit 7% as compared to that of South Africa whose growth is projected to be 2% for the next couple of years.
Used vehicles imports
Image source: www.herald.co.zw
With this positive outlook for Nigeria, it is little wonder then that most multinational companies are headed there and that secondhand car importers are looking at it as the market of choice in Africa. Companies like BEFORWARD find a ready market for their second hand vehicles in Nigeria.
South Africa
Well… Nigeria has the biggest economy, but South Africa has the biggest car market, thanks to admirable political stability, great road networks and better standards of living for most of the population as compared to the rest of Africa. With a GDP of $350.6 billion, South Africa comes second to Nigeria, but it has been ranked as the top leading new and secondhand car market in Africa. In addition, South Africa manufactures her own cars, with several renowned car makers having set up their base there.
Egypt
Despite the recent political upheavals, the land of the Pharaohs continues to claim a top spot among the biggest economies of Africa. With a GDP of $271.9 billion, Egypt cannot be written off. It is a big market for vehicles and manufactured products. It is one of the top players in the GDP of North Africa and the Middle East.
Algeria, Angola and Morocco also claim spots in the top ten economies by GDP in Africa. They are closely followed by Libya and Sudan and… surprise surprise… Kenya! ….
This is Lamu in Kenya
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamu
According to Forbes, Kenya is now the ninth largest economy in Africa. With a GDP of $55.2 billion, a well established democracy, good institutions and a throbbing stocks exchange, Kenya is home to some of the most prolific auto dealers including DT Dobie, General Motors, Foton motors and Cooper Motor Corporation and others. Recently, the country also saw the launch of a Kenyan made automobile – Mobius.
Closing the ranks at number 10 was Ghana. Remember this was in 2014. We are waiting to see how Africa will fare on in 2015.
